By Rob Potter
CALLICOON  August 15, 2000  Sunday evening at
the Villa Roma, a fellow golfer walked up to Chris DuBois
and congratulated him. The man noted that DuBois was due.
Indeed.
DuBois, a Fallsburg resident who has participated in all
19 Sullivan County Democrat Two-Man Better Ball Golf
Tournaments, and his partner Bill Elliott of Woodridge
claimed their first Democrat tournament title Sunday at
the Villa Roma Country Club in the Callicoon Beechwoods.
The duo won a tournament that was filled with firsts,
such as the first time rain wiped out an entire day of
competition and the first time multiple holes-in-one were
scored in one day.
Saturdays torrential downpours and multiple
lightning strikes canceled the action and forced a change
in the popular match play tournament format. The golfers
hit the links Sunday in a 36-hole stroke play tourney,
which means simply the lowest team score wins.
One hundred and twelve golfers played 18 holes in the
morning, ate a quick lunch, then went back out for the
final 18 holes.
DuBois and Elliot shot a 73 in the morning and a 67 in
the afternoon for a 140 total. They defeated the team of
Craig and Jeff Gordon by one stroke.
I felt we were really close [to the lead], but it
is difficult in this format because you dont know
how everyone else is doing out there, Elliott said.
I guess it came down to the last few holes. We
birdied two of the last three holes.
DuBois and Elliott, who lost the championship in a
sudden-death playoff two years ago, agreed that putting
made the difference as they shaved five strokes off their
morning score.
We were consistent and made our putts, said
DuBois, who has teamed with Elliot in the Democrat
tourney for three straight years.
Although the rain washed away Saturdays action, the
winners agreed that the Villa Roma Golf Pro Matt Kleiner
and his staff had done a great job preparing the course
for Sundays play.
The course was in great shape considering
yesterdays rain, Elliott commented.
The winning duo, who often play at the Lochmor and Terry
Brae courses in the Town of Fallsburg, did not seem to be
too affected by the change in format.
I prefer the match play, DuBois commented.
But on the other hand, the medal play worked out
well today.
DuBois and Elliotts 140 edged out the Gordon/Gordon
teams 141 (73 and 68). The third place finishers
were David Solomon and Jack Jordan who fired a 142 (71 in
the a.m. and 71 in the p.m.).
The teams of Dr. Peter Rymer /Matt Rymer, Ira
Steingart/Nathan Steingart and Nicholas Yaun/Daniel Yaun
each finished the 36 holes with a 143 total.
Following a match of cards, Rymer/Rymer garnered fourth
place, Steingart/Steingart captured fifth place and
Yaun/Yaun finished sixth in the Championship Flight.
As he waited at the clubhouse for the golfers to finish
their first round Sunday, Matt Kleiner noted that it was
a wild weekend with a lot of upsets. Among
those upsets were the teams of Ken Cohen/Barry Winter and
Gregg Semenetz/Gregg Semenetz, Jr.  whom Kleiner
had predicted in last Fridays Democrat would square
of for the championship  not making it to the
championship flight.
However, Cohen and Winter, the defending tournament
champions, captured top honors in the third flight. The
shot a five-under par 67 in the morning and a three-under
69 in the afternoon for a 136 total.
A pleasant surprise was the fact that three aces were
scored in the afternoon round. Brian Gordon, Marvin
Newberg and Terry Wolcott all hit holes-in-one. Newberg
and Wolcott both aced the par-3 17th hole, while Gordon
dropped his tee shot into the par-3 second hole.
The top winners in each flight included:
Second Flight  Winners: Jay Shapiro/Bobby Elliott,
145; Second Place: Tim Smith/Charlie Kester, 146; Third
Place: Lee Wood/Dave Weldon, 149.
Third Flight  Winners: Cohen/Winter, 136; Second
Place: Marvin Newberg/Sam Hillman, 145; Third Place: Sy
Solomon/Mel Kaufman, 154.
Fourth Flight  Winners: Bobby Jones/Mike Daley,
144; Second Place: Terry Wolcott/Bob Simpson, 146; Third
Place: Troy Gregory/Michael Goldstein, 150.
Fifth Flight  Winners: David Drucker/Al Bilkis,
152; Second Place: Paul Carlucci/Greg Cox, 154; Third
Place: George Lari 165.
Sixth Flight  Winners: Steve Schmidt/Randy
Armstrong, 168; Second Place: Paul Berens/Bob Whitaker,
170; Third Place: Steve Epstein/Bob Keyner, 171.